29 Chev, Thanks for your help and pictures again. I was able to finally remove the cone and collar from the left hub and clean up the parts. The right hub has been removed from the right side and the pin removed from the hub. what a bit of work that all was, much heat, PB buster, hitting, time, pressure from a large three jaw puller and so on.

Your trick on the seal with machine screws worked wonderfully on the right side seal, i wish i had done that on the left side seal.

I was able to confirm that the differential does work, via rotating the right side of the axle and watching the left side notched collar inside the case.

The rear end is finally back together with new seals and bearing, functional locking differential. This experience has me thinking its a good idea once in awhile, at least every couple of years removing the hubs from the shafts to clean, inspect and ensure everything is not seized too firmly on the axle.

The end play was pretty bad, and i have taken that all up now. Should i be worried about the left hub seal running on an area of the hub that has never been a sealing surface before?

With the end play taken up and the differential working its reasonably easy to now roll the tractor and if you push on it without the locking pin removed it won't move. if you rock it back and forth, you can eventually get it to move still and i tend to think that is normal.

So it all seems to be working better now, but will need to run this for awhile to see what else crops up.

I was able to find an old bolens plow for a medium frame tractor and have that fitted after welding up some modified brackets and lifting mechanism.

Has anyone used some type of spring assist to help with manual lifting mechanism for a plow? its not necessary but seems like it might be really nice.

Thanks all for the advice and help on this project. I'm really looking forward to getting this tractor running well.

Should i be worried about the left hub seal running on an area of the hub that has never been a sealing surface before? Not unless the area is rough or scored.

With the end play taken up and the differential working its reasonably easy to now roll the tractor and if you push on it without the locking pin removed it won't move. if you rock it back and forth, you can eventually get it to move still and i tend to think that is normal. Not normal, and may be caused by internal wear. ....Usually, axle end-play adjustment corrects this. ....Once you have run the tractor a few times, re-adjust the rear axle end-play.

Has anyone used some type of spring assist to help with manual lifting mechanism for a plow? its not necessary but seems like it might be really nice.